The present invention relates to a device for locking a cabinet having a plurality of drawers, the device also serving as an anti-tilt mechanism for the cabinet. The invention is applicable with particular advantage to tall cabinets.
In the following specification, the term "cabinet" will be used to describe filing cabinets and other items of furniture within which there are mounted drawers for access or use. They include domestic furniture, office cabinets, laboratory furniture, kitchen furniture and indeed any item of furniture having a plurality of drawers. The furniture does not need to be enclosed. Open racking can be fitted with units that slide out and the invention can be equally applied in this case.
The term "drawer" will be used in its broadest sense to mean a thing capable of being drawn out, which apart from encompassing a standard slidable box, also includes shelves, trays and frames from which files can be suspended or otherwise supported.
Cabinets often have a plurality of drawers which are fixed to the cabinet and when slid out remain supported by it cantilevered out beyond the base of the cabinet. If several of the drawers are withdrawn simultaneously and are heavy or carry weight, for example, those drawers full of office files, there is a serious risk that the cabinet may tilt forward. A number of devices have been proposed which act as a safety device to limit the number of drawers which can be withdrawn at the same time. Indeed, in some countries all office filing cabinets have to include such a safety device.
One such device is described in GB Patent 2 095 322. This patent describes a safety device which comprises a guide extending up a wall of the cabinet and blocking elements for the drawers of the cabinet. The blocking elements can be moved along the guide to release the drawer but limited free length on the guide restricts the number of drawers which can be released simultaneously, preferably to one only.
In the example shown in the above patent, the blocks are movable manually up and down the guide which can sometimes prove cumbersome. The device described includes no means for locking all of the drawers in a closed position. A number of improvements to this design have attempted to use the movable blocks to lock all of the drawers closed. The majority of such mechanisms comprise a lock mounted at the top of the cabinet with a lock mechanism which blocks the top of the guide to prevent upward movement of any of the blocks. The disadvantage of such a system is that in a tall cabinet the lock can at times be inaccessible.